On 2 June, Mexico will send to the polls millions of voters in a historic election. Even though the two forerunners, Claudia Sheinbaum and Xochitl Galvez, both women, respectively represent opposite political coalitions, the most powerful outcome of the upcoming elections will be a solid blow to Mexico’s male-dominated culture. Mexico not only has a long-lasting tradition of macho culture, but also of fostering autocratic regimes more focused on framing the presidential figure than tackling national issues. Issues such as these are precisely what makes the upcoming election historic, as it is concerned with both global issues such as climate change, and systemic practices that have been regarded in Mexico as pillars since it gained independence.

One of the main challenges for Mexico’s next president will be unavoidably related to the current autocratic government of once regarded charismatic Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (or AMLO, as his followers call him). AMLO’s government at first aimed at eradicating systemic corruption and organized crime, both sociopolitical issues that have brought consequences to all the tissues of Mexican society. Nevertheless, Mexico has been recently involved in scandal due to providing refuge to Jorge Glas in the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador. Glas is facing a sentence of six years in jail for corruption in connection to the Odebrecht case. While there is an ongoing debate about the aissue, the fact that the Mexican government granted refuge to the former Ecuadorian vice-president is serving as the final leitmotiv of a Mexican government that throughout six years constantly betrayed its mission to eradicate corruption.

Moreover, AMLO’s six years in government adhered to the populist wave that is shaping politics worldwide. AMLO assumed his role as an autocratic leader more focused on giving his now seen as traditional daily morning debriefings (or “mañaneras,” as they are called in Mexican Spanish) with the press to candidly talk about national issues, but that most of the time were quotidian harangues in defense of his government’s rationale. Many critics and members of the electorate wonder if the next president will incorporate such daily morning briefings into her agenda, thus attracting attention only to the presidential figure, or if she will depart from this autocratic practice to begin a........

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